Did the Industrial Revolution affect the way people lived and worked in the 19th century for the better or the worse?
-explain your answer by providing examples

The Industrial Revolution (1750-1850) is the invention of new machines and the discovery of new sources of power.The Industrial Revolution affected the way people lived and worked in the 19th century,dramatically, for both the better and the worse.


Some of the examples of how the Industrial Revolution affected the way people lived and worked for the better are that as machines were located in factories, workers began to work in factories instead of working at home. The use of machines meant that the Europeans could produce their goods cheaply in great quantities and at a faster rate. Raw materials were needed to manufacture these goods. The Europeans also needed new markets outside their own countries to sell their goods. They began to look to the East for raw materials and markets for their goods. One place they turned to was Asia. This also meant that there would be more jobs would be offered as a lot of work needs to be done and that goods could be bought at cheaper prices.

At the same time,railway trains and steamships were invented following the discovery of the steam-engine. People could travel longer distances in a shorter period of time to look for markets and raw materials. This made travelling easier and the people's lives easier.


There were also negative impact of the Industrial Revolution on the way people lived and worked in the 19th century. Some of the examples are that the jobs at factories were dangerous. If one is not careful when handling with the machines, one may lose his or her life.

People working in the factories were also poorly paid.

Not only that, the working conditions were often unsanitary, meaning dirty, and one would easily contract diseases.

As many jobs were offered, many children were also working, to make ends meet at home. Thus education suffered due to the command of work.

Not only education suffered, home life also suffered, because women were faced with the double burden of factory work followed by domestic chores and child care. Thus there was some worker oppositions to the proposals that child and women should not work.

Due the gases and smoke emitted by the factories, there was pollution of the environment, like air pollution and noise pollution. This harmed the health of the people living in the 19th century.

As many people were working, there was growth of material wealth. People spent more and more money on things that they did not really need, which were not daily necessities, wasting their hard-earned money.


With all these examples, I conclude that the Industrial Revolution affected the way people lived and worked in the 19th century for the worse because there are more examples supporting that the people's lives and work lives were affected for the worse.